


The Birth of What's Living

by thorinsaplusparenting (ibreathethroughwords)



Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Baby Dwarves, Everyone Is Gay, F/M, Gen, M/M, Ori and Kili are toddlers, Suburbia, and nothing hurts, brief allusion to suicide, but not too much, domestic floof, i need to practice dialogue, look I wrote something from Balin's POV, mention of Mama Ri dying, this is more narration than dialogue
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-09
Updated: 2013-05-09
Packaged: 2017-12-10 20:51:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,126
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/790034
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ibreathethroughwords/pseuds/thorinsaplusparenting
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ori was excited.</p><p>Dori was stressing out over the colors of the streamers.</p><p>Balin was counting to ten and taking very deep breaths.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Birth of What's Living

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Aloneindarknes7](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aloneindarknes7/gifts).



> i am warning you they are living in America okay you gotta write what you know shhhh babies it's okay
> 
> also aloneindarknes7 helped me flesh this out on tumblr so here you go fic for you

The home Balin and Dori lived in was a nice, two story affair in suburban, Midwest America. When they had first purchased it the outside had been a rather offensive shade of green trimmed with a rather horrifying yellow. Now it was painted a light gray (the darkest paint the new local HOA would allow) and trimmed with white. It had a three car garage, and a large, white-railed porch that wrapped from just next to the garage, past the front door, a short ways down the opposite side of the house, where it stopped at the privacy fence. There was at least one good climbing tree in both the front and back yards, and the lawn was neatly trimmed. In the backyard there was an in-ground pool and jacuzzi, and all the yard and play equipment an eleventh month old boy could ever want to climb on. 

It was their dream home, and it was perfect for raising a small child in. The neighborhood was nice as well, full of young, upper middle class families with small children, and it was one of the rare towns where they were not mocked for being gay by the neighbors. Even the most hardcore Christians appreciated that their presence increased their property valued and kept their mouths shut to Balin's and Dori's faces.

They lived close to the city where Balin worked for Erebor Enterprises, and their home was the central location for their close friends and family to meet after work and on the weekends. Those that had little ones were always encouraged to bring them to play with Ori, for Balin and Dori had adopted Ori as their own when Dori, Nori, and Ori's mother had passed giving birth to the boy. She had been old when she had become pregnant, and Ori's father had followed her in his grief of his own choosing. Their family was just beginning to recover from the tragedy, and it certainly helped Dori that family was constantly over and willing to let him fuss over them to take his mind off his emotions.

It had been a difficult time for Dori, and Balin had remained by his side throughout it, lending a hand with Ori without being asked, making sure Dori attended grief counseling, and always giving him something to smile over. As Ori's first birthday approached, Dori seemed to be trying to use organizing that affair as an escape for his feelings regarding the passing of his mother. Balin had tried quite frequently to get Dori to talk about it, but any attempts only ended in Dori changing the topic rather smoothly to throw him off his game and make Balin lose track of the conversation. Eventually, he had given up when Dori started to get very snippy with him about it, and so he left Dori to his fretting and fussing.

When Dori snapped at him in the evening when they were alone for watching a baseball game with Dwalin that day instead of helping him with whatever it was he was doing, Balin smiled and apologized, kissing Dori's cheek and cracking jokes to try to get his beloved to smile. He didn't mention that Dori had never asked for assistance, or that he wasn't a mind reader, or that he and Dwalin had planned this days ago and Dori had said it was fine. When Dori snapped at Balin over something completely inane, he gave Dori time to cool down and forgave him when his husband apologized. When Dori woke him up in the middle of the night with a teary face and a desperate need to be held, Balin wrapped his arms around him, kissed his head, and let Dori release his stress and fears into his chest.

There was, however, only so much patience even Balin Fundinson had in reserves, and by the day of Ori's party rolled around (the day before his birthday), he was quite at the end of his rope with his husband. The baby, at least, was having a good day. He had woken up from his post-lunch nap to find the kitchen and the yard full of streamers and balloons, and a super soft blanket was laid out in the grass. His favorite soft balls and bouncy balls were all out in the yard, and everything was very pretty. 

Ori was excited.

Dori was stressing out over the colors of the streamers.

Balin was counting to ten and taking very deep breaths.

It took some time, but he managed to calm himself down, then convince Dori that the colors of the streamers didn't matter. Ori was not ever going to remember this. His long-term memory was complete crap and would be for quite a long time. Balin kissed Dori's cheek and pulled him close when it looked like his meager reassurances wouldn't be enough.

"I know that particular purple was your mom's favorite color," he murmured as he pulled back to look in Dori's eyes, "but we've got a lot of it in the balloons and the tablecloths, don't we? It doesn't have to be perfect, love."

Dori melted against Balin and wrapped his arms around him, one eye still glued to Ori in his high chair. The toddler had escaped on them once already today and tried to crawl to freedom. It would not happen again. "I just want it to be how she would have wanted it," he said. Balin heard his breath hitch, and rubbed a hand over his back to calm him down.

"I think she would have loved it. Your mother would be very proud of you, dear. We'll go visit her tomorrow. We can take Ori with us."

That got a smile out of him, which meant Dori was coping much better with the thought of that. "All right," he agreed, and pulled away with a kiss to distract the baby with Cheerios and toys and get to the cooking.

Dori was calm until guests started arriving, and Balin could see him tense with every ring of the bell. Large families like theirs were never without drama, and the middle brother of Dori's side of the family was full of it. Newly twenty-one and permitted to buy his own alcohol, Nori was consistently in and out of trouble (not that he hadn't been beforehand, but being allowed into all bars and clubs was no help to his criminal record). Balin and Dori were done paying his bail, they had decided, and though Nori was trying to straighten himself out, he had quite a long list of shoplifting charges that made finding a job difficult. Though he had not, to their knowledge, ever delved into drugs, Dori was constantly convinced it was only a matter of time since Nori had come home from college once reeking of pot at four in the morning.

Not that Dori wouldn't be happy to see his younger brother (even if they had spent an hour last night hiding all the valuables and their wallets). It would doubtless be a relief to him to see the young thief was still alive, but there were other concerns brought on by Nori's likely appearance at today's gathering for his baby brother-slash-nephew. Balin's younger brother, Dwalin, had quite often been the arresting officer on Nori's case, and tried to devote quite a bit of time to getting him to behave properly, which Nori loudly and openly resented.

The thought of both of them there, together, was what had Dori wringing his hands and twitching when guests showed up. 

Dwalin had arrived first, and Balin left their son with Dori and let Dwalin help him grill. They waved away Dori's concerns about burned food with Balin reminding him that they had bought more than they thought they would need for a reason. Once assured his husband was out of sight and distracted by a toddler that would not stop reaching for colorful decorations to put in his mouth, Balin turned to Dwalin and gave him a severe look that got him a raised eyebrow that let Balin know he had his brother off his guard.

"Nori's coming today," he said sternly, "and I won't have any fighting between the two of you. Dori's having a hard enough time keeping himself together as it is. Any fighting between the two of you is going to push him into a breakdown."

A soft sigh escaped Dwalin's lips, but he nodded in agreement. "I'll do my best to keep it civil," he promised. "I don't know how I'd be managing if I were in Dori's shoes, and both of them are likely to be upset."

Balin nodded his head. "Dori said Nori didn't sound so good on the phone last night when they talked. I wouldn't be surprised if they both end up drinking pretty heavily tonight." Nor would he begrudge them that chance to drink to her memory. It had been eleven years since he and Dwalin had lost their mother, but that didn't make it any easier on them.

"Why don't you go check on him?" Dwalin suggested. "I'll keep grilling for you."

With a grateful smile. Balin headed back inside to find Dori fretting over Ori's hair. Deciding that maybe Dori needed to be kicked outside for awhile, he sent his husband out back to relax with a beer before he pulled something, took the baby from him to give him a break, and put a sign on the front door stating to just come around back - the gate was unlocked. He locked the screendoor and threw the deadbolt and the lock on the front door, then grabbed a beer for himself and Dwalin and came back outside. 

With the baby securely in his playpen in Balin's line of sight and Dori seeming to unwind, he relaxed a little. Maybe everything would work out all right after all.

\---

Everything had not worked out all right. Though Nori and Dwalin had managed to be civil through dinner (a relief), the cake (a victory), and opening Ori's presents (a miracle), Balin knew the tension between them was becomingtoo strained to keep from breaking. He kept a careful eye on them and worked hard to keep them separated. It was highly likely, he knew, that Nori was just as tense and upset about the one year anniversary of their mother's passing as Dori and looking for someone to take it out on, so he asked Bofur to help him keep Nori reigned in. Dwalin was doing very good at being neutral, but Nori's digs at him were starting to get under his skin and Thorin had taken him around front for a smoke to cool him off more than once, leaving Nori fuming and Bofur pouting at the lack of attention Thorin was giving him in his wake.

Even Bilbo couldn't draw Nori entirely out of his bad mood, though he did try whenever the gaggle of children weren't climbing on him and begging him for stories or a game of hide and seek. Fili and Kili were overly fond Bilbo, and Ori wanted to do whatever they did, and of course Gimli and Bombur's youngest had to try to crawl after them (and fussed when their parents wouldn't let them crawl off the blanket). The sheer amount of little ones there seemed to be having a weird calming effect on Dori (whereas all the screaming was giving Balin a headache), and Dori spent awhile holding Bombur's youngest daughter and cooing over what a beautiful infant she was to her delighted parents.

Yes, things had gone well for awhile, but they couldn't last. The very spoiled birthday boy had been sitting in Nori's lap, showing off his new favorite book, a soft and apparently delicious gift from Bilbo, and chewing on the corners when Dwalin had glanced over at the two of them in a way that Nori didn't like. Just like that, it had turned into a yelling contest that had both of them wincing. Balin plucked his scared and now sobbing son from Nori's arms and put a stop to it immediately. Angrily, he ordered them to take it elsewhere, but the damage was done. Dori had to excuse himself to the kitchen, and he took Ori with him as Balin apologized to the rest of the family and tried to get the party moving again.

It was only when everyone else had been assured that he had things under control and they had gone back to drinking and visiting that Balin came into the living room. Dori was rocking Ori in his arms, chair facing away from the back windows so no one could see his face. Wordlessly, Balin handed him the box of tissues and knelt down next to the rocking chair. 

Ori seemed a lot more calm, clinging to Dori with his pacifier in his mouth, but Dori seemed to be anything having trouble relaxing. "Do you think you could take Ori back outside for awhile?" his husband asked softly. "See if anyone is willing to watch him for a few minutes?"

It sounded like a good plan to him, so Balin nodded and stood. He picked up Ori when the baby reached for him and stooped enough to kiss Dori's forehead before taking the little one out back. Bilbo saw him coming through the kitchen and moved to intercept him at the patio door.

"Need a hand for awhile?" he offered.

Balin gave him an extremely thankful smile, and handed Ori over to him. "If it's no trouble. It's a difficult enough day for Dori as it is."

Bilbo kissed Ori's cheek and shifted the toddler to his hip. "I imagine so. Taking awhile to calm down?"

"Yes. I'll be back out in a bit, but we'll likely be in the living room if you need anything." 

They parted ways, Ori clinging more tightly to Bilbo and waving sadly at his dad as Bilbo walked back to the other adults and sat down next to Thorin. His best friend and Bofur's on-again-off-again boyfriend had Kili bouncing on his lap, the toddler squealing with delight at the movements of his legs. The two children tended to get along well, and Bilbo clearly hoped Kili would be able to help cheer up Ori.

Balin paused in the kitchen just long enough to make sure Ori would be alright before heading back to Dori. They curled up on the couch, Dori tucked right into his side, and Balin held him until he was calm. The peaceful moment lasted only a few moments before they heard a weird thump and a soft moan from upstairs. A horrified look was exchanged between them before they stood together and headed upstairs. 

What they found wasn't anything either of them had been expecting when they entered the guest room: Dwalin had Nori pinned to the wall by the bedroom door, their pants dropped, and Nori's legs up around Dwalin's waist. It was quite painfully obvious to them both that Balin's younger brother was buried inside Dori's younger brother.

In their home.

Both sets of partners froze, the four of them staring at each other in mortification, before Dori recovered enough to use his words.

"Dwalin!" he snapped. "Get your cock out of my little brother this instant!"

Dwalin complied and the two of them pulled their pants back up. As soon as zippers were done up and belts fastened Dori took them by their ears down the hall to Balin's office, where he shoved them onto the couch and gave them a fifteen minute lecture on propriety. Balin stood in the door frame, eyes glittering with anger, and let Dori talk himself out until his beloved ended up just storming out of the room with a huff, presumably leaving to go entertain their guests and relieve Bilbo of the birthday boy. Neither Dwalin nor Nori were dumb enough to try to move while Balin still stood at the door. He let them sit and squirm for a few minutes before he moved to stand in front of them. They cowered before the fury on his face and readily agreed to the punishment he'd decided on once they had apologized several times.

When Balin dragged the embarrassed pair downstairs to start on dishes he was pleased to find that Bilbo, Bofur, and Thorin had done a fantastic job of cheering Dori up again. His husband was smiling, bouncing Ori on his lap while chatting to Bofur, who leaned back casually against Thorin at the picnic table. The sight made Balin smile, and he kissed Dori's cheek as he sat down with him. Ori reached across for him, and Balin took the babe, holding Ori so he could rest his head on his shoulder.

Before long night had fallen and he little ones were too tired to keep playing (despite Fili's instance that he wasn't closing his eyes to doze, he was obviously playing peek-a-boo), and their friends and family left. Dwalin and Nori apologized profusely to Dori and didn't let him help at all with the cleanup. Balin sent him inside to get Ori washed up and in bed, and soon enough Dwalin and Nori were leaving together with a promise to meet them at the cemetery tomorrow morning.

When all the lights were off, the doors locked, and the security alarm set, Balin deemed it time for bed. He came upstairs, first looking for Dori in the bedroom. The room was dark and empty, so Balin headed down the hall, where he found Dori asleep in the rocker in the nursery, Ori already out cold in his arms. For a moment he indulged himself in taking in the sight before him from his unobtrusive spot by the nursery door. The events of the day had been stressful to his husband, but in sleep the lines on his face smoothed out and made him look quite a bit younger than he had in a few years. Dori was handsome and charming in his waking hours, but in sleep Balin thought him utterly beautiful and enchanting. Waking him was something he did not want to do, but the hour was growing late, and they needed to get to bed.

Careful to not wake the baby, Balin took him gently from Dori's arms and tucked the toddler into his crib. His favorite blanket was pulled over him, and Balin made sure favorite pacifier was in there as well. Once he had the baby monitor turned on he gently woke Dori and guided him down the hall to their large bedroom for what he hoped would be a decent night's sleep before a long day spent remembering Dori, Nori, and Ori's mother.

**Author's Note:**

> Okay finally phew here it is look I did a fic yay
> 
> hopefully this means my writer's block is gone


End file.
